That patience has apparently run out. Minister of National Defense Lee Jye has now said that Taiwan’s $4+ billion plan to buy 66 F-16 C/D jet fighters from the USA has been suspended by President George W. Bush. His report to the Legislative Yuan’s National Defense Committee indicated that the U.S. stance is strongly influenced by the long-stalled arms purchase package’s failure to clear the legislature.

Recent reports place Taiwan’s fighter fleet at about 146 F-16 A/Bs, 56 Mirage 2000v5s and 128 F-CK “Ching Kuo” fighters in its current fleet, as well as more than 60 aged F-5E Tiger IIs. Local media reports claim that even if Taiwan is permitted to buy the new F-16s, they will not be delivered until 2011. By that time, Taiwan’s self-developed F-CK fighters will have been in service for nearly 20 years, and their current fleet of Mirage 2000v5 and F-16 A/B fighters procured via 1992 contracts will have been in service for almost as long.